Captain N: The Game Master
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| Captain N: The Game Master | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover for Captain N. |
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| Genre | Animated series |
| Creator(s) | DiC Entertainment |
| Starring | See voice cast below |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes approx. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC, USA Network, Family Channel |
| Original run | September 9, 1989 – October 26, 1991 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
- For info about the title character see Kevin Keene.
Captain N: The Game Master is an American animated television series that aired on U.S., Canadian, United Kingdom, Irish, Austrian, Australian (where it was called 'Captain Nintendo') and New Zealand television from 1989 to 1993. In the U.S., the show aired as part of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup on NBC. The show incorporated elements from many of the most popular Nintendo games of the time. There was also a comic book version by Valiant Comics albeit only featuring characters from Nintendo-produced games.
Contents |
[edit] Season 2
During Season 2, DiC created two opening and closing title sequences for both halves of the series on the chance of a break-out. The Captain N masters have the opening and closing for Captain N only. Although DiC licensed many sound effects from various video games, however, none of the sound effects from any of the NES Megaman games were ever used in any episodes of Captain N, this could probably be due to that DiC never got access to any of Capcom's sound effects. Also, Captain N never licensed any of the Zelda sound effects for the episodes in which Link appeared in.
[edit] Season 3
The show went through several changes the most visible of which came with the show's third season. The second season introduced the bizarre character of Game Boy (based on the famous handheld console) which turned out to be one of the show's least liked characters. In its third season (1991), the show took on more radical changes which were frowned upon by fans. The animation was simplified drastically (due to a change of animation studio), the episode length was decreased to 11 minutes and the overall quality of the show's writing and animation declined. Unlike the previous two seasons (which had thirteen episodes), the final season has seven episodes. The series was cancelled soon after.
Due to Season 3's low ratings (possibly due to its low quality writing and reduced quality in animation in the third season), the series never got a proper ending of Kevin finally going home; the final episode ended just like every other episode, this upset many fans. Season 3's animation style was used again in some of DiC's later cartoons such as Wish Kid, Battletoads and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
[edit] Cancellation
The show was cancelled along with several other cartoons once NBC started changing its format to make more time for news programs. Criticism from government and watchdog groups that NBC's Saturday morning lineup consisted mostly of thinly veiled commercials aimed at children also may have played a role.
[edit] Origins
The premise of Captain N first appeared in Nintendo Power magazine, created by a Nintendo staff member and magazine editor named Randy Studdard. The original concept involved Captain N (originally known as "Captain Nintendo") as a Nintendo employee and the Mother Brain as a Nintendo main computer that went rogue, and Captain Nintendo had the power to temporarily give life to characters and items from Nintendo games. The story left a door open for a sequel (Mother Brain is temporarily defeated but her return was said to be inevitable, and Captain Nintendo vows to stop her when the time comes.) Nintendo later decided to create a cartoon series, opting neither to credit nor to compensate its creator. DiC was shopped as the animation studio, and very little of the original concept remained.[1]
[edit] Show premise
The hero of the series, Kevin Keene, a teenager from Northridge, California, and his dog, Duke, are summoned to another universe known as Videoland by being sucked into a vortex that formed in his television, called the Ultimate Warp Zone. In order to fulfill an ancient prophecy, Kevin is to become the hero "Captain N: The Game Master" and save Videoland from the evil forces, led by Mother Brain (the chief enemy in Metroid), who has almost succeeded in capturing the Palace of Power and conquering all Videoland. Kevin, armed with a Zapper and a belt buckled shaped like an NES controller, and Duke appear suddenly on the other side of the Ultimate Warp Zone before the N Team, which consists of Princess Lana (the ruler of Videoland), Simon Belmont (the hero from Castlevania), Mega Man, Kid Icarus (from Kid Icarus, known in the actual games as "Pit"), none of whom show any confidence in Kevin's ability in the beginning. After Lana is kidnapped by the enemy shortly after Kevin's arrival, the reluctant group puts their differences aside to go on a rescue mission where Kevin eventually gains the other's confidence.
In most episodes, the N Team's enemy is a group of video game villains usually led by the boisterous and loud Mother Brain who is accompanied by her minions; the sheepish Eggplant Wizard (Kid Icarus), the thuggish King Hippo (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!), and scheming Dr. Wily (Mega Man). A 'villain of the week' is featured in some episodes when a particular game becomes the setting(such as Malkil of Wizards and Warriors). The original Donkey Kong also makes an appearance as a territorial, belligerent, Godzilla-sized gorilla in some episodes, but usually serves as a dangerous neutral character posing a hazard to friend and foe alike.
Further recurring characters make an appearance as both friend and foe. The Count (Castlevania) makes multiple appearances, along with Dr. Light (Under his mistranslated name of Dr. Right), Link and Princess Zelda (Similar to their appearances from The Legend of Zelda cartoon were transplanted from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, also produced by DiC Entertainment, together with the original voice actors Jonathan Potts, Cynthia Preston and Len Carlson reprising his role as Ganon.), and, from season two onward, Game Boy (a childish, person-sized supercomputer shaped like the Game Boy, which had the power to materialize objects from his monitor) joins the N Team.
The focus of the show is mostly action-adventure sourced from the video games they parody, with comedic relief forming in each characters' interactions with one another. Sometimes, humor also stemmed from the loose interpretations of the laws of reality that apply in Videoland.
[edit] Main characters
[edit] The N Team
Kevin Keene- The leader and main character of the series. In many episodes, he tries to foster a big-brotherly role to characters suffering from a particular plight. When he comes to Videoland, he is equipped with a belt and holster that has a Power Pad (a NES controller-shaped device which can stop time or give Kevin super speed over short distances) and a Zapper which when it hits an enemy dispatches it or "dematerializes" it. He is most often referred to as Captain N by the other cast members, except Princess Lana who regularly addresses him by his first name. He wears light denim jeans, yellow shirt and a red varsity jacket with white sleeves. The varsity letter (the "N") on his jacket is for swimming.
- The character design of Kevin Keene is similar to J.J in the 1987 Japanese anime Zillion who carried the Sega Light Phaser and also wore a red jacket and blue pants, although his clothing more closely resembled a futuristic uniform than normal clothing like Kevin wore.
Princess Lana- The currently-installed monarch (actually a regent, as her father, King Charles, was banished to another dimension by Mother Brain) over all the lands in Videoland and rules from the Palace of Power. Though she reflect a kind character typified by a princess role, she is able to keep up with the rest of the N-team through their adventures and is not afraid of conflict, having been trained to defend herself from a young age. She wears boots and a two piece outfit, as well as a tiara and necklace with three green gems. It seems that both Kevin and Simon compete for her affections but she shows both of them the same amount of affection although seemingly she perfers Kevin over Simon and often kisses him on several occasions.
- It is widely believed among fans that Princess Lana's appearance was influenced by that of Palutena from the Kid Icarus series.
Duke- Kevin's dog jumped into the Ultimate Warp Zone immediately after Kevin was sucked in and ended up in Videoland as well. Although he acts intelligent, he still exhibits dog behavior seemingly uncontrollably like chase reflex. Duke usually is with Kevin through all the action in a given episode and sometimes sees his own action, but is mostly a comic relief character. Duke wears a bandanna around his neck.
Simon Belmont- Until Captain N's arrival, Simon, a vampire hunter, regarded himself as Princess Lana's highest ranking servant. He displays extreme arrogance and vanity, often prefacing declarations of his character by referring to himself in the 3rd person. He enjoys courting and complimenting Princess Lana, openly declaring his romantic interest in her (which she rebuffs but sometimes is flattered), but he enjoys tending to his appearance and physique even more. He regards Captain N as a major rival for Princess Lana's attention. He wears blue fabric outfit, pilot goggles, boots and large gloves, and carries around a backpack with a seemingly endless capacity of miscellaneous things he takes out and uses. He brandishes a whip, which occasionally has a mind of its own, but like Captain N's zapper can dematerialize foes.
- Simon Belmont's look was at least partially based upon his voice actor, Andrew Kavadas.
Appeared in: Castlevania
Kid Icarus- The diminutive Kid Icarus is very loyal to and protective of Princess Lana and while he shows childish behavior, he is not short on courage. He is not very physically effective in the action situations, and bemoans his small stature, but is the only N Team member who can fly, and usually is a very accurate archer, using his arrows to dematerialize foes. He has light feathery wings, long bangs that always cover one eye, and wears a one-shoulder toga with sandals.
- Kid Icarus's new look in season 3 now closely resembles his sprite and boxart from the Kid Icarus sequel game for the original Game Boy
Mega Man- Equally diminutive as Kid Icarus, Mega Man is a robot constructed by Dr. Light, who is also very protective of Princess Lana. Despite his size, he is incredibly strong, physically durable, and extremely agile. His body is clad in multi-tone green armor and a shroud on his face seems to indicate he is wearing a visor. He has two forearm mounted energy guns which function like Captain N's zapper. In the episode Happy Birthday Megaman, he's transformed from a robot into a living being, although later in the series he's still shown to posses his robotic abilities.
Game Boy- Appearing in the first episode of the second season, Gameboy is a human-sized supercomputer shaped like the product of the same name. He announces himself as being "programmed to play games" and when action arises, he is usually capable of meeting the challenge. Gameboy can also use his display to materialize many things, from objects to monsters.
[edit] Main foes
Mother Brain- The primary villain of the show, Mother Brain is a trash talking, abusive, power-hungry brain in a giant bottle. As of the first episode, her troops are marching at the door of the Palace of Power, and she had already captured and banished the King of Videoland to a mirror world. She is not above any subterfuge if it gets her goal accomplished. She is also very vain, almost as much as Simon Belmont. She uses a special "mirror" to spy on the N Team members as she looks for weaknesses to exploit. She also has retractable prehensile tentacles she uses to lash or electrically shock her usually incompetent minions to encourage them to do better.
Appeared in: Metroid
King Hippo- The monstrous, pear shaped king Hippo is the "heavyweight" who is short on brains and big on muscle. He is cruel and sharp tongued, but usually is most violent to his counterpart the Eggplant Wizard.
Appeared in: Mike Tyson's Punch Out
Eggplant Wizard- The cycloptic human-sized vegetable, Eggplant Wizard is a main foe for Kid Icarus, but mostly serves as a target for abuse for Mother Brain due to his incompetence. He is also the chief foil for King Hippo, the two usually featured at the same time. He also has the ability to conjure various vegetable themed gadgets to aid in mischief. Unlike King Hippo, Eggplant Wizard has shown some signs of taking the initiative to come up with his own schemes and isn't above turning against Mother Brain on rare occasions.
Appeared in: Kid Icarus
Dr. Wily- The least seen of the main villains, Dr. Wily is a short, beady-eyed, and slightly grizzled old man loyal to Mother Brain and arguably the most competent of the group. He is a stereotypical mad scientist who uses his genius to build wild gadgets or develop complicated schemes to defeat the N-Team.
- In the Swedish dub, Dr. Wily has a German accent, and refers to Mother Brain as 'Frau' Mother Brain.
- Ian James Corlett, the voice of Dr. Wily, would go on to voice Mega Man in his eponymous TV series in the mid-1990s.
Appeared in: Mega Man series
[edit] Other characters
These characters make an appearance in at least two episodes.
- Donkey Kong- A gigantic gorilla, Donkey Kong resides on Kongo Land. Mostly a solitary character, he is quick to anger and not happy to see visitors in what he considers his jungle. He has no loyalties and is equally dangerous to all the other characters, with the exception of the Videolympics episode where he joins Mother Brains' team.
- The Count- A pasty, lanky vampire in a gauche yellow suit, he is a parody of Dracula from Castlevania, but is never referred to as Dracula. He demonstrates the ability to control the undead and transform into a bat in order to threaten the countryside of Castlevania, but rarely teams up with any other character for his goals.
- Charles, the King of Videoland- The original monarch (and father of both Lana and Lyle) of Videoland was at some point in the past captured by Mother Brain and banished to the Mirror World, remaining trapped there since. He is a kind and compassionate ruler who places his judgment of others above his own well being.
- Princess Zelda- A beautiful, slightly elfish young woman, she rules Hyrule and protects the Triforce from evil as well as providing help to the N Team. She is a close friend to Princess Lana since before Mother Brain waged war on Videoland, and the two regard each other highly. She wields a bow occasionally to deal with foes.
- Link- a young warrior who serves Zelda, Link is a heroic figure who is brave, friendly (if somewhat competitive), and resourceful. He also fights to defend the Triforce and Hyrule from enemies and wields a double-edged sword.
- Ganon- Ganon lost the Triforce of Power when he was defeated by Link. In order to revive him from his weakened state, Mother Brain seeks out the Potion of Power. The N Team, along with Link & Zelda, confront Mother Brain and her minions but are too late to stop them. Ganon drinks the Potion of Power and battles the N-Team. He is once again defeated but escapes with Mother Brain and is never seen again in the series.
- Dragon Lord- a huge, nearly Donkey Kong sized red dragon, he makes multiple attempts to rule Dragon's Den. Intelligent, if somewhat gullible, he uses both his size, and magical powers to further his goal of conquering his world and ruling over all its dragons.
- Prince Lyle- Brother to Princess Lana, Lyle left home at an undisclosed time after feeling out of place. Despite his lineage, he displays few leadership skills or heroic athletics, and generally regards himself as clumsy in spite of his good intentions. Thinking it for the best, he left home and took up residence on Tetris.
- Wombatman- A television hero parody of Batman, Wombatman is a squat and cynical actor who portrays his character of the same name. Kid Icarus idolizes him and identifies with his various gadgets he uses, as he comes up with similar gadget arrows in his quiver.
- Prince Plenty- the monarch that reigns over Kongoland, except when Donkey Kong is involved, Prince Plenty is blue-skinned like all the humanoid inhabitants of Kongoland. He is very soft spoken and a friendly ruler.
- Dr. Light- The genius scientist who built Megaman and Megagirl, he teams up with the N Team to fight off Dr. Wily and Mother Brain.
- Mega Girl- A girl robot with very similar construction to Mega Man (except her armor is pink and white), she wants to be friends with him very much, but is turned away initially as she reminds him that he is not human.
- Rush- A robot dog that's red and orange and spoke in a robotic-tone voice. Can turn into types of transportation for Mega Man and Captain N. Despite comparisons made by their masters, Rush and Duke get along just fine.
- Larry Bird/Bo Jackson- Both make one animated guest appearance in Season 3, but it is unknown whether they voiced their fictional counterparts or not.
[edit] Episodes
Note: While the Season 2 and Season 3 episodes were paired with episodes featuring the Super Mario Bros., and the combined series was renamed, the Captain N episodes themselves retained the title of "Captain N: The Game Master". It is generally accepted that the total of 34 episodes constitutes one television series, rather than three separate television series.
[edit] Season 1 (1989-1990; Captain N: The Game Master)
- Kevin in Videoland (September 9, 1989)
Pilot episode. Kevin is sucked into Videoland through his television and must team up with the rest of the N Team to rescue Lana from Mother Brain. (elements from Metroid)
- How's Bayou (September 16, 1989)
Mother Brain discovers Kevin isn't very good at the Bayou Billy video game, and sets a trap to lure him into Bayouland. (elements from Bayou Billy)
- The Most Dangerous Game Master (September 23, 1989)
Dr. Wily builds an android replica of Mike Vincent, a bully that tormented Kevin on Earth - and lures the N Team to Castlevania in order to trap them. (elements from Castlevania)
- Videolympics (September 30, 1989)
Mother Brain proposes a challenge - Video Olympics on Mount Icarus, with her League of Darkness competing against the N Team. Winner takes the throne of Videoland. This serves to distract the N Team as Mother Brain wants to get the Three Sacred Treasures and conquer Videoland.
- Mega Trouble for Megaland (October 7, 1989)
The continuation of the two-parter started with Videolympics. (elements from Megaman 1, and Kid Icarus)
- Wishful Thinking (October 14, 1989)
The N Team discovers a magic lamp - and everything goes horribly wrong. To make matters worse, Mother Brain has set her sights on getting it for herself and sends Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo to steal it.
- Three Men and a Dragon (October 21, 1989)
Kevin and the N Team journey to Dragon's Den to battle with Mother Brain and her new ally, Dragon Lord, who is in the process of conquering that video world (elements from Dragon Warrior (now Dragon Quest)).
- Mr. & Mrs. Mother Brain (October 28, 1989)
Due to a "curse" from one of the arrows used by Kid Icarus, Simon falls in love with Mother Brain! (elements from Kid Icarus)
- Nightmare On Mother Brain's Street (November 4, 1989)
Mother Brain and Dr. Wily plot to trap the N Team in the Nightmare Zone, a world where their worst nightmares become reality. (elements from Wizards & Warriors, also a parody of Disney's Snow White)
- Simon the Ape-Man (November 11, 1989)
Simon suffers a blow to the head and thinks he's Donkey Kong Junior!
- In Search of the King (November 18, 1989)
Lana and the N Team go to the Mirror World to attempt to rescue her father - unaware they are falling into a trap.
- Metroid Sweet Metroid (November 25, 1989)
Mother Brain tricks the N Team into thinking she is defeated - and uses the distraction of the N Team's "victory" to conquer Videoland.
- Happy Birthday, Megaman (December 2, 1989)
It's Megaman's birthday and he's upset he's not human - so he sets out on a quest to gain humanity. (apparently influenced by Issac Asimov's The Bicentennial Man or Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation)
[edit] Season 2 (1990-1991; Captain N & The Adventures Of Super Mario Bros. 3)
- Gameboy (September 8, 1990)
The N Team finally gain contact with King Charles again, wanting to help him escape the Mirror World through a warp that only opens every thousand video years. But he sends a supercomputer called Gameboy in his place instead. Gameboy ends up being more trouble than good for the N Team, and things get worse when Mother Brain to capture him and use his computer power for evil.
- Queen of the Apes (September 22, 1990)
Mother Brain plots to switch bodies with Lana - only to have Donkey Kong and Game Boy interfere. Their brains are switched and Mother Brain ends up in Donkey Kong's body, which doesn't bode well for the N Team or Videoland.
- Quest for the Potion of Power (September 29, 1990)
Kevin meets Link and Zelda for the first time, and sets out with them on a journey through Hyrule to stop the evil wizard Ganon from being restored to his full power. (elements from Zelda II)
- The Trouble with Tetris (October 13, 1990)
Lana reunites with her long-lost brother Lyle on the distant video world of Tetris, and Kevin and Lyle work together to stop Mother Brain from taking Tetris's power source, the Sacred Square. (elements from Tetris)
- The Big Game (October 20, 1990)
Some of Kevin's high school friends are warped to Videoland for a football game against Dr. Wily's eight master robots - winner takes the throne of Videoland. (elements from Megaman 2, California Games)
- The Lost City of Kongoland (November 10, 1990)
The N Team travels to Kongoland to stop Mother Brain from getting a priceless artifact. But when Lana crosses paths with the artifact, she becomes an even deadlier foe than Mother Brain.
- Once Upon a Time Machine (November 17, 1990)
Count Gruemon steals Kevin's Power Pad and Zapper in Hyrule, so he and Link set out to into the world of Puss 'n Boots to get them back, along with the help of Pero the cat. (Elements of Puss 'n' Boots)
- The Feud of Faxanadu (November 24, 1990)
A power overload in the Palace Of Power's football arena warps the N Team to Faxanadu - where they find themselves amidst a conflict between elves and dwarves - and an evil being bent on getting a powerful crystal that will let him conquer the video world. (elements from Faxanadu)
- Having a Ball (December 1, 1990)
Mother Brain fires Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo for failing to capture the Triforce - so they steal the Triforce pieces for themselves while Link and Zelda are away at Lana's royal ball.
- The Trojan Dragon (December 8, 1990)
Dragon Lord is back - and his new plan for conquering Dragon's Den involves hatching a deadly golden dragon. Zelda and Link once again help the N Team by building a mechanical dragon to help sneak in and learn of Dragon Lord's plan.
- I Wish I Was a Wombatman (December 15, 1990)
Kid Icarus must help his television hero deal with Mother Brain, but finds his TV hero may not be all he thought he was.
- The Invasion Of The Paper Pedalers (December 22, 1990)
The N Team takes a trip to an Earth-like world where Mother Brain is hypnotizing residents with a special kind of newspaper ink. (elements from Paperboy)
- Germ Wars (December 29, 1990)
Kevin contracts a video virus he has no immunity to - so the N Team shrinks themselves down and goes inside Kevin's body to battle the virus. (apparently inspired by Fantastic Voyage and Innerspace)
- When Mother Brain Rules (January 5, 1991)
A clip show of assorted moments from the first two seasons.
[edit] Season 3 (1991-1992; Captain N and the New Super Mario World)
- Misadventures in Robin Hood Woods (September 14, 1991)
After returning from a Dragon's Den mission, Kevin and Kid Icarus do battle with the Sheriff of Nottingham's soldiers - and team up with Robin Hood. (The 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was adapted into a game by Virgin Interactive.)
- Pursuit of the Magic Hoop (September 21, 1991)
The N Team travels to Hoopland for Hoop-Dee-Doo-Dah Day where they can gain a wish by sinking a shot through the Magic Hoop. Kevin and Lana their hopes set on bringing King Charles home, but end up having to fix a wish gone awry. Larry Bird makes an appearance, but only in character and name. Some people beleive that Hoopless's design is loosly based on Steve Urkel from Family Matters
- Return to Castlevania (September 28, 1991)
Simon travels to his homeworld of Castlevania to be honored by the Poltergeist King, but is made to think he had dishonored his great-grandfather Trevor. But the King isn't really who he appears to be...
- Totally Tetrisized (October 5, 1991)
A new foe, the Puzzle Wizard, has taken over the world of Tetris - so the N Team goes to set things straight, dealing with the Wizard's puzzling shenanigans.
- A Tale of Two Dogs (October 12, 1991)
Dr. Wily, Dr. Light and the N Team build a Peace Robot, but Wily double-crosses them. He tries to use the robot to take over Videoland after kidnapping Duke and Rush to keep Kevin and Mega Man occupied.
-
- The only episode in Season 3 where Dr. Wily and Dr. Light appear. Their design are pretty much unchanged. This marks their final appearances as well.
- Battle of the Baseball Know-It-Alls (October 19, 1991)
Mother Brain has returned in a last-ditch effort to conquer the Palace of Power, while the N Team deals with other demons under the stadium in the world of Baseball. Bo Jackson appears via character and name.
-
- The only episode in Season 3 where Mother Brain, King Hippo, and Eggplant Wizard make in appearance; they are absent from the rest of the Season 3 episodes (while King Hippo and Eggplant wizard looked nearly the same from the first 2 seasons, however, Mother Brain's appearance drastically changed to look more deformed). This marks their final appearance as well. This episode also marks the final appearance of Gameboy
- The Fractured Fantasy of Captain N (October 26, 1991)
Kevin is hypnotized into doing evil by a dark prince who hopes to conquer the world of Final Fantasy.
[edit] Voice Cast
- Gary Chalk: King Hippo/Donkey Kong
- Ian James Corlett: Dr. Wily
- Mike Donovan: Eggplant Wizard
- Matt Hill: Narrator/Kevin Keene (Captain N)
- Alessandro Juliani: Kid Icarus
- Andrew Kavadas: Simon Belmont
- Doug Parker: Mega Man
- Levi Stubbs: Mother Brain
- Venus Terzo: Princess Lana
- Tomm Wright: Duke
- Frank Welker: Gameboy (Season 2)
- Jonathan Potts: Link (Season 2)
- Cynthia Preston: Princess Zelda (Season 2)
- Long John Baldry: King Charles/Little John (Season 3)/Clockman (Season 3)/The Poltergeist King (Season 3)
[edit] Changes and criticism
Like many of DiC's video-game cartoons, many characters and settings from video games featured in Captain N were significantly altered for the show. In many cases these changes were made for artistic or stylistic reasons, or to provide greater freedom for the show's writers. These changes have been controversial with video game fans however, many of whom argue that the show's writers often went too far, and altered existing characters to provide more clichéd standard cartoon fare. It is also worth noting that in many cases the established personalities and histories of the videogame versions had yet to be firmly established in the games as the show was being produced. For example, Megagirl appeared before the Megaman games gave Roll a recurring place and personality in the videogames.
- The vain and cowardly Simon Belmont (Castlevania) looks and acts nothing like the original game character, who was a more straightforward hero from a more medieval timeframe. The original Simon Belmont was clad in half-plate, or leather armor of some form, and had very little dialogue or character development in the game.
The Captain N rendition of Mega Man - Mega Man's (Mega Man) depiction was significantly altered. The original character's entire arm became a cannon, and his armor was various shades of blue, not green. Originally having no voice, his show incarnation talks in a scratchy and deep robotic tone and frequently uses the word "mega" in front of certain words.
* Mother Brain (Metroid) in the original NES game was simply a solid mass of flesh and had no tentacles or face. (This would change years later when Super Metroid was released.)
- King Hippo's (Punch-Out) skin was changed to greenish-blue and his two large teeth were exaggerated to give him an appearance more resembling an off-color hippo. In most other regards, he was drawn similarly to his NES Punch-Out!! character.
- Kid Icarus (Kid Icarus) is the new name given in the show to the main character of the same game (who is actually called Pit). Also having no game dialogue, he would commonly end phrases with an "-icus." He also is shorter than in his game's self and uses a wide array of arrows that would conveniently suit whatever situation he was involved with. His appearance, however, was very close to the original.
- Dr.Wright's appearance was altered so he appeared more elvish or gnome-like. In addition, he was given a green lab-coat instead of the white seen in the game series. His name is an error as the manual of the first Mega Man game refers to him as Dr. Wright due to a translation inadequacy.
- Mt. Icarus, Megaland and Metroid are not actual locations featured in games. Castlevania is in truth merely the castle in which Dracula lives, while in the show it is the name of Simon's homeworld. Mega Man's homeworld is slightly disputed as it varies between the American and Japanese games and even between the cartoons. The game Kid Icarus in truth takes place in Angel Land. In the cartoon, Metroid appears to be a semi-organic space-station while in the games, Metroids are jelly-fish like aliens which, oddly enough, never appeared on the show.
- Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong) was huge, roughly King Kong-sized, as he appears in the original Donkey Kong, which starred him and Mario, not as he later appeared in the Donkey Kong Country games and other related games.
- The "Select" button on the NES controller on Captain N's belt was used repeatedly to stop time (as if he were pausing a game), giving him the advantage in various situations. Interestingly, the controller's pause button on the show was Select, not Start, as it is in most video games.
[edit] The Comic Book
The Captain N comic book was published by Valiant Comics as part of the Nintendo Comics System in 1990. Despite being based on the television cartoon of the same name, it was actually quite different from the show. The comics were more serious than the cartoon. Additionally, all third-party characters (Simon Belmont, Mega Man, Dr. Light, Dracula, and Dr. Wily) were excluded, apparently due to licensing limitations. Samus Aran, who never appeared in the cartoon, was a frequenter of the stories and Mother Brain's second-in-command became Uranos, the demigod of the sky based on a regular enemy from Kid Icarus. Pit's toga was changed from white to yellow and, in most of the stories, Lana's dress was purple. However, in the comics, Lana has a weapon - a scepter she had in concept art, but only had a very brief appearance on one episode of the show.
In the last printed issue of the comic book, a letter column promised that Mega Man would make an appearance but the comic was aborted so abruptly and this never came into existence.
The first issue was to be included as a digital reprint on the DVD set, but couldn't since the rights to the comic are in limbo.[1]
[edit] Featured Video Games
Being that Captain N took place in a universe where video games existed as reality, a multitude of video games were used in the thirty-four episodes of the series. In some cases only areas and elements from the game was used, with the protagonist absent (Wizard and Warriors, Dragon Warriors and Metroid for instance).
- The Adventures of Bayou Billy
- Burgertime
- California Games
- Castlevania
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Featured music from this game)
- Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Junior (Simon Belmont thought he was Donkey Kong Junior when he had amnesia in one episode)
- Dragon Warrior (now referred as Dragon Quest)
- Faxanadu
- Final Fantasy
- Kid Icarus
- Mega Man
- Mega Man 2
- Mega Man 3
- Metroid
- Paperboy
- Punch-Out!!
- Despite the fact that several fansites say Little Mac from Punch-Out!! never appeared on the show, he actually can be spotted in the live-action portion of the opening, where Kevin is playing the game before he is sucked into Videoland.
- Puss 'n Boots: Pero's Great Adventure
- RBI Baseball
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (The episode had very little to do with the game except for the characters)
- Super Mario Bros. (In the first episode, Kevin briefly compares the Ultimate Warp Zone to this game, and Lana replies, "Something like that." Also, many of the sound effects came from this game, such as jumping.)
- Tetris
- Wizards and Warriors
- In "Nightmare On Mother Brain's Street," the N Team traveled to the world of Wizards and Warriors and battled the resident villain, the wizard Malkil, who also appeared on a few times on the Power Team opposite his enemy, the knight Kuros.
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Although nearly every major Nintendo franchise at the time was represented at some point or another in the show (as well as a few obscure ones, such as Puss N' Boots) the Super Mario games were noticeably absent, although a line mentioning the game is included in the pilot episode, comparing the Ultimate Warp Zone that brings Captain N to Videoland to the warp zones in Super Mario Bros.
[edit] Other references
While the premise was supposedly derived from The Chronicles of Narnia, Captain N also made many other references to other sources, from the names of episodes ("Kevin in Videoland" to Lewis Carrol's Alice In Wonderland, for example) as well as movies (one episode had a movie called "Donkey Kong Jones and the Last Banana") and other media (one episode had Simon Belmont watching a show called "General Morgue" - an obvious reference to General Hospital).
[edit] Syndication and Changes
Captain N was syndicated on The Family Channel in 1992, on the USA Network at some point, and on local affiliates (such as the Tampa, Florida Fox affiliate in the early morning on weekdays) in 1993 as Captain N & The Video Game Masters, a package which included Captain N, The Legend of Zelda, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World. This compilation package is commonly referred to as "VGM" for short in the Captain N fandom.
VGM had its own theme song, followed by a commercial break, followed by the theme song of whichever series was being shown on that day. The lyrics consisted of "The world of Captain N is here" sung four times.
Like The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, original airings of the first season's episodes typically featured current popular music of the day, such as Bob Seger's "Shakedown" in "Kevin in Videoland" and "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins in "Mega Trouble for Megaland". But when Captain N episodes were aired in the VGM package, these songs were removed and replaced by an instrumental version of the "Mega Move" song from Season 2's "The Feud of Faxanadu" which is also used for the syndicated runs of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. In "The Most Dangerous Game Master," this music, which replaced a cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", is very noticeably repeatedly looped to fill the required amount of time.
When "The Feud of Faxanadu" was aired in the VGM package, it used the opening theme song of the third season.
The Zelda episodes were cut for time when aired in the VGM package, and two episodes were shown in each half-hour block. Also, at least once, the episode "Doppelganger" oddly aired with the title "Underworld Connections", which is a completely different episode.
In at least the Family Channel and VGM airings, the second season's opening theme song had the Mario segments cut out.
[edit] Other
It is generally regarded that there are thirty-four unique episodes of the series. However, alternative versions of many episodes exist (mostly as a result of editing and the like in the third season and later syndication.) Here is a list of the episodes with alternative versions:
- "How's Bayou": The original version of this episode that aired on September 16, 1989 differed from the version that aired on all later airings. This version featured some dialogue changes/rearrangements/etc., an alternate piece of instrumental music in the Kevin/Lana dancing scene, and several other small changes here and there. The Shout Factory DVD release contains this episode.
- Some of the episodes were remade to 15 minutes long and airing in season 3.
- "When Mother Brain Rules": This "clip show" episode has at least two different versions. There are many scenes with dialogue but no music, and vice versa. In alternative versions of the episodes, many of these sequences are changed around.
Many episodes also received minor changes when they were released in syndication as part of the "Captain N & The Video Game Masters" package. The only major change was removing the "popular" music and replacing it with the instrumental music from the "Mega Move" song in "The Feud of Faxanadu."
[edit] DVD Releases
Captain N was released on DVD in America on February 27, 2007 by Shout! Factory.
Though the set is called "The Complete Series," there are some omissions.
Season 3 is not included. This is because Season 3 is considered to be part of a different series, due to sharing a half-hour block with "The New Super Mario World", and the powers-that-be are requiring that the Captain N and Super Mario World episodes be released together. However, season 3 was released on Australian DVD's in November 2005 (see below).
Additionally, episode 27 (episode 14 of Season 2), "When Mother Brain Rules," which is a clips episode, was not included on the master tapes that DiC sent to Shout! Factory, so this episode is not included on the DVD set.
Contrary to what many sites have said prior to the release of the set, the primitive, first version of How's Bayou is included in this set. However, it is the only version on the set. The better known, second version is not featured in this package.
The tapes that DiC lent Shout! Factory to make the DVD set are clones of NBC broadcast masters, which apparently do not lose quality from copy to copy. It is unknown why DiC did not provide its own master tapes.
The opening "teasers" are not included on the DVD set, as these were not a part of Shout! Factory's deal with DiC. The only teaser on the disc is the one for Kevin in Videoland, featured as a bonus feature on disc one.
A scene about 2 minutes long from the episode "Queen of the Apes" is oddly absent from the DVD. Making the episode 19-20 minutes as opposed to the running time of 21:39. What is missing from the DVD is the entire "underwater piranha battle" scene involving Kevin and Simon, and some of the "hoisting Mother Brain's body up a cliff" scene with Kid Icarus and Mega Man. (Brian Ward of Shout Factory has stated this was an authoring error and replacement disc program is being initiated. He also stated that the info will be forthcoming.)
The popular remade songs from season one are not included, and have been replaced by an instrumental version of the "Mega Move" song from The Feud of Faxanadu. This is obviously due to rights issues involving the songs. Strangely though, the "horn theme" from the games in Videolympics is intact, though it's clearly taken from Bill Conti's score from Rocky. The songs in season 2's episodes were not remakes of popular songs, but songs done exclusively for the series. These are intact.
The DVD set is packaged in 2 double-disc thin packs. The booklet planned for the set was omitted due to time constraints, as no further delays were wanted.
The only audio track available is English. Closed-captioning is not provided.
The following bonuses are featured on the DVD set:
- Map of Videoland-style menus
- Character Video Bios including narration taken directly from the text of the Captain N bible
- Exploring Videoland: Concept art for the worlds and locations of Captain N: The Game Master
- "Captain Nintendo" - the Nintendo Power short story that started it all! Note, however, the Captain Nintendo story is missing entire paragraphs and has typos galore.
[edit] Foreign DVD releases
Every episode of Season 3 is available on Australian DVD alongside the entire series of the "Super Mario World" cartoon.
Three of the episodes of Season 3 are available on a South Korean DVD.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
